Life is Strange: Fateful Meeting
by Assassin master ezio 91
Summary: He was a retired war vet, looking for a civilian job and life, despite the shattered state the war left him in. Who knew a chance stop at a small town diner called The Two Whales could lead him to meet someone who would change his life forever. Brief David/Joyce oneshot on their first meeting, focuses mainly on David's mindset.


**Life is Strange: Fateful Meeting**

Hey, little Life is Strange one-shot I decided to do, hope you enjoy it, this one is quite simply a brief take on the first meeting between David Madsen and Joyce Price.

Disclaimer: I don't own Life is Strange or its characters.

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The sounds of gunfire, screams, explosions…It was all around him, he couldn't block it out, no matter what he did. It grew steadily worse as he saw the bodies, the people he had known, some for mere weeks, other's for years, many of them friends. Their bodies twisted in ways that shouldn't be humanly possible.

His CO was yelling something at him, mere seconds before the mortar hit. After that he was pinned beneath what remained of the man's body; powerless, unable to do anything but watch as the slaughter continued.

* * *

With a gasp, David Madsen found himself back in the present day, in his car, parked in the parking lot he had spotted when he first felt himself start to slip away. He bit back a groan and rubbed his temples.

' _PTSD, the veteran's reward.'_ He thought bitterly.

His main consolation was he was getting more adept at realizing when something like what just happened was about to happen, so he could take precautions not to hurt anyone, or himself. Like when he was in his car, like right now. He shook his head, it was the 27th of November 2008, he was a war veteran and ended up in a slaughter that saw him as the only survivor and what did he have to show for it. An army pension following early discharge and Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder.

Not helping matters was the fact he was far from home; but that had been his decision, scour all of America looking for a job suitable for an old soldier if he had to.

He shook his head. _'No doubt people would ask, what about family, friends? What, they want me wearing a sign, friends all died in the war, only family I got left is my parents and they're…they're getting on a bit.'_

Something else to trouble David; his parents. He had a good relationship with them, they cared about him, they were the only people he knew that didn't shy away from him when he came home, no longer the same after what he witnessed. His father, David Madsen Sr. however was getting to that age he was getting forgetful, absent minded.

However, no matter how bad his memory seemed to get, he always seemed to remember and recognize his son. His mother Dorothy Madsen, she was in better condition that her husband, but recently had developed join pains, he just hoped it was nothing serious. Needing to distract himself and noting the time, David wondered if was just pure chance he had ended up parking outside a Diner.

Getting out the car he made his way over, observing it, Two Whales Diner, a quiet little place, but then, most of what he had seen during his short drive in Arcadia Bay had been. He headed inside, still trying to remove the images of that flashback from his mind.

Taking a seat in a nearby booth he found himself scoping the place out, observing the other customers, as always looking for threats, his training had been that deeply entrenched it was more a habit than anything.

"Uh, excuse me, are you ready to order?" A female voice sounded next to him.

He started and turned; standing there was a blonde woman, close to his own age, smiling kindly, having already brought coffee over. He noted she clearly worked here and did his best to smile back.

"Ah, yeah, thanks, let's see…" He replied consulting the menu.

Little did he know that was the begging, what followed was a rather surprising and frank conversation between the two of them which saw him finding her to be rather interesting and welcoming company. They introduced themselves to each other too, her name was Joyce Price. They even got around to sharing stories about their pasts, which was how she knew about his losses in the war, he learned of her recently deceased husband.

"It's different of course but…"

David shook his head. "No really Joyce, loss is loss."

She smiled gently at that and nodded.

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That meeting turned out to be a turning point for both of them, especially since Joyce had left him a small personal message written on his check and he had slipped a piece of paper with his phone number amongst the bills he used to pay for his meal. He was certain that he just met the most special woman in the world.

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End of chapter and of story, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.


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